Superintendent Email Blast
From AFSWiki
Volunteer Ann Ruhman in Michigan shared this best practice:
"Pinckney Schools is very supportive of exchange programs. I’ve gotten to know the Superintendent of Schools and several Board members (2 are hosting this year). I asked the Superintendent if he would put out an email blast to the community, I also told him I’d be happy to put a letter together that he could edit and send out. He took me up on it. Since Pinckney accepts students from several programs, I made it fairly general, not wanting to put him in a position of endorsing one program over another. Mr. Danosky made essentially no changes to what I wrote…
This went out last Thursday. I have already had several people mention it, and a family that has stepped up saying they want to host. Pretty good ROI I think."
To Families in the Pinckney Community Schools:
As many of you know, Pinckney High School has a policy of welcoming foreign exchange students into our community. The 2008-09 school year has seen students from Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Norway, Mexico, Turkey and Thailand; 13 all told. They are great kids, and we hope many of you have had the opportunity to visit with them. We also want to thank the host families that volunteered to share their homes with them this year.
As Superintendent, I recognize that these students bring great diversity to our schools and opportunities for our students to experience points of view they might never hear otherwise. The host families gain another son or daughter; our children gain brothers, sisters, and friends. These are all huge benefits. Right now is the time of year that exchange programs are looking for host families for the 2009-10 school year. If you have ever considered hosting a foreign exchange student, now may be the time. Don’t think you have to have high school age children to host. Host families come in all sizes and shapes – traditional families with young children, couples with no children, single parents, empty nesters… All that is needed is a bed for the student (they can share rooms with siblings) and meals. It is very simple, but it is more than that. You are not just opening your home, you are opening your heart. Many of the advantages gained are not tangible – how can you put a price on a hug?
I hope that once again, the Pinckney community will open its doors to a new group of exchange students. Pinckney High accepts students from several different exchange programs. If you think hosting is something you may like to do, I encourage you to do some research into the different programs and talk with current host families about their experiences. Pinckney has accepted students from the following programs in the last few years:
AFS Intercultural Programs (www.usa.afs.org)
ASSE (www.asse.com)
AYUSA (www.ayusa.org)
CIEE (www.ciee.org)
YFU (www.yfu-usa.org)
There are literally dozens of exchange programs. Which program you choose is your decision. Some programs are almost totally volunteer driven, others have paid staff. Some programs are very hands-on with their kids, others aren’t. The important thing, in the end, is how does the program respond to you as a host family, or your student, when there are questions and/or problems. How does their support system work? How does the program philosophy and goals mesh with your family philosophy and goals? Only you can answer that. If you would like more information on exchange programs in general, you can look at the Council for Standards in Educational Travel (www.csiet.org), which sets standards for programs in the US.
You can contact the local representatives of different programs through their respective websites. If you would like to talk to current host families, the AFS representative lives in Pinckney and can put you in touch with several. Contact Ann Ruhman. Now really is the best time for families to commit to this: programs can make sure paperwork is in order, Pinckney High School knows who is coming, and most of all, students who may have been working towards this goal for many months are anxiously awaiting news of who their new families will be. Getting students placed early gives both the host family and the student the chance to start the bonding process, a bond that we hope will last a lifetime.
Who will be your new son or daughter?
Dan Danosky
Superintendent of Schools
